Philippines-Campaign for election 2013 nears fever pitch with everybody in helter skelter. Candidates of all hues prominently run around covering as much area as humanly possible, spreading good cheers and money as long as their pockets hold out. People cheerily flood candidates' HQ to return home with some booty. Local leaders once again step into the spotlight while the sea of unemployed gain work, at least in the next three or four months. Suppliers are abuzz.
It's Christmas in February!!
Elections- I love elections. It's the only time when ordinary citizens rule; when the corrupt regurgitate what they stole and economics is at its high. Everybody is happy- that is until the last vote has been tallied and the corrupt retains their position. Then it's back to the grind.
As citizens, we should make every election work.
In character , the President dives into the campaign, head first, hands-on, landing squarely on ground zero. Endorsing in Cavite the senate candidacy of the 12 administration bets culled from a hodge fudge of disparate parties, called Team PNoy, he makes his call using the slogan that has kept people , even his detractors, glued to his every move- DAANG MATUWID (THE RIGHTEOUS PATH).
It's Christmas in February!!
Elections- I love elections. It's the only time when ordinary citizens rule; when the corrupt regurgitate what they stole and economics is at its high. Everybody is happy- that is until the last vote has been tallied and the corrupt retains their position. Then it's back to the grind.
As citizens, we should make every election work.
In character , the President dives into the campaign, head first, hands-on, landing squarely on ground zero. Endorsing in Cavite the senate candidacy of the 12 administration bets culled from a hodge fudge of disparate parties, called Team PNoy, he makes his call using the slogan that has kept people , even his detractors, glued to his every move- DAANG MATUWID (THE RIGHTEOUS PATH).
When first heard back in 2010 , I thought it was so cheesy that it would immediately kill the lactose intolerant. Pointedly addressed at his immediate predecessor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) , the slogan struck a raw nerve in the voting population, made clear in the landslide victory of President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III (PNoy) over his opponents including heavy favorite former president Joseph Estrada and media front runner, senator Manny Villar. After two odd years in office, the slogan remains the resounding battle cry of the administration that has kept the popularity of PNoy at the forefront of national politics. In November 2012, result of the Pulse Asia survey yielded a high trust rating of PNoy at 78% . It is widely expressed that this popularity spearheaded the unexpected economic growth for 2012 of 6.6%.
The exact translation of 'Daang Matuwid' (Daan: path, road, way/Matuwid: straight) in English would be the straight path but that losses the impact of its connotation with governance. Righteous to my mind aptly translates the message of justice with compassion, moral, ethics, social equity and level playing field that PNoy in the image of his mother Cory would like to impart. The slogan brings to the fore, not for the first time I am sure, albeit differently accentuated, the malady of corruption that afflicted the succession of regimes. Corruption in turn, accounts for wide spread poverty and a general climate of lack of opportunities. So it was that the GMA regime was used as a springboard to catapult Daang Matuwid soaring into national consciousness like the Good Year Blimp on a bright sunny day. Not that her 9-year regime towered in terms of corruption in the annals of Philippine governance but the presidency of GMA fell into so much controversies that made her poster girl material. In his inaugural speech, PNoy further defined 'Daang Matuwid'' by calling the citizens his boss and vowed 'Walang Wang-Wang' a reference to practice of government officials in using sirens to sweep clean roads when they pass, avoiding traffic. The speech sounded like the beginning of a government 'of the people, by the people, for the people' aspirations verbalized by Abraham Licoln and John Kennedy.
PNoy spent the whole first year of his presidency leading the campaign to impeach Supreme Court chief Justice Corona, intruding on the trial by unabashedly criticizing, accusing and indicting Corona publicly which resulted to PNoy garnering criticisms. He saw Corona as the last visage of the GMA regime, an obstacle to finally holding GMA accountable for her corruptions.
However, rumor mill spins the tale of PNoy's merely exacting vengeance on GMA for her pull out of law enforcement personnel in Hacienda Luisita during a violent incident. Then, there was the pull out of security escorts of Cory which appears left of righteousness and downright petty.
Eventually, Corona was unseated in a dramatic trial that saw an inept prosecution team, and a gathering of two brilliant aging lawyers, one for the defense and the other as chief impeachment judge. Before anyone can bat an eyelash, PNoy installs Lourdes Sereno as Chief Justice to the howl of protests in the legal circle. Seen from another angle it seems PNoy was out to control the judiciary.
Now with elections, he might just also control the legislative branch, if he has not already.
The man's on a roll given his batting average. There's the hiatus on demolition of informal squatter families cheered on by probably half of the residents of metro Manila. Pnoy also pushed the much contested Reproductive bill to now Republic Act 13054 against an intense lobby of the catholic church which has yet to stop. And topping the cake, a 6.6% economic growth hailed by both outside and inside industry leaders.
However, it seems his overriding goal is to see GMA in jail.
Is he living up to the righteous path? As far as he is concerned, Pnoy remains unblemished by any accusation of corruption, so maybe. However, his defense of classmates,shooting colleagues and a myriad of friends installed as government functionaries have been subject of criticism more prominently those of Viriginia Torres over Stradcom, Rico Puno over Jueteng, Proceso Alcala over Carp and Rene Almendras over the handling of the Mindanao energy crisis. Also PNoy seem prone to the bulldozer tactics as in the Corona impeachment. Likely he sees ends justifying the means, a horrible proposition.
If PNoy succeeds in getting a majority in both houses, he becomes dictator. It would be the biggest irony in Philippine history. There would be no fiscalizer; no check, no balance, no righteous path.
Do you think that if UNA is able to dominate the senate and congress, there would be a fiscalizing element? I think not. They are the same dynasty oriented, pork barrel consuming, MOOE realigning, committee hungry, neurotic lot as their fathers.
It is wise therefore, to look for alternative candidates that may help PNoy really implement this much vaunted 'Daang Matuwid'. But then if you look at the roll of candidates, there's slim pickings made more obvious with three candidates included in both UNA and Team PNoy slate.
Still there are the few promising prospects, so look up: John Carlos Delos Reyes, Kapatiran with his hands-on campaign against social ills; Greco Belgica, Democratic Party of the Philippines with his progressive tax concept and Edward Hagedorn, no none sense former Palawan mayor.
The exact translation of 'Daang Matuwid' (Daan: path, road, way/Matuwid: straight) in English would be the straight path but that losses the impact of its connotation with governance. Righteous to my mind aptly translates the message of justice with compassion, moral, ethics, social equity and level playing field that PNoy in the image of his mother Cory would like to impart. The slogan brings to the fore, not for the first time I am sure, albeit differently accentuated, the malady of corruption that afflicted the succession of regimes. Corruption in turn, accounts for wide spread poverty and a general climate of lack of opportunities. So it was that the GMA regime was used as a springboard to catapult Daang Matuwid soaring into national consciousness like the Good Year Blimp on a bright sunny day. Not that her 9-year regime towered in terms of corruption in the annals of Philippine governance but the presidency of GMA fell into so much controversies that made her poster girl material. In his inaugural speech, PNoy further defined 'Daang Matuwid'' by calling the citizens his boss and vowed 'Walang Wang-Wang' a reference to practice of government officials in using sirens to sweep clean roads when they pass, avoiding traffic. The speech sounded like the beginning of a government 'of the people, by the people, for the people' aspirations verbalized by Abraham Licoln and John Kennedy.
PNoy spent the whole first year of his presidency leading the campaign to impeach Supreme Court chief Justice Corona, intruding on the trial by unabashedly criticizing, accusing and indicting Corona publicly which resulted to PNoy garnering criticisms. He saw Corona as the last visage of the GMA regime, an obstacle to finally holding GMA accountable for her corruptions.
However, rumor mill spins the tale of PNoy's merely exacting vengeance on GMA for her pull out of law enforcement personnel in Hacienda Luisita during a violent incident. Then, there was the pull out of security escorts of Cory which appears left of righteousness and downright petty.
Eventually, Corona was unseated in a dramatic trial that saw an inept prosecution team, and a gathering of two brilliant aging lawyers, one for the defense and the other as chief impeachment judge. Before anyone can bat an eyelash, PNoy installs Lourdes Sereno as Chief Justice to the howl of protests in the legal circle. Seen from another angle it seems PNoy was out to control the judiciary.
Now with elections, he might just also control the legislative branch, if he has not already.
The man's on a roll given his batting average. There's the hiatus on demolition of informal squatter families cheered on by probably half of the residents of metro Manila. Pnoy also pushed the much contested Reproductive bill to now Republic Act 13054 against an intense lobby of the catholic church which has yet to stop. And topping the cake, a 6.6% economic growth hailed by both outside and inside industry leaders.
However, it seems his overriding goal is to see GMA in jail.
Is he living up to the righteous path? As far as he is concerned, Pnoy remains unblemished by any accusation of corruption, so maybe. However, his defense of classmates,shooting colleagues and a myriad of friends installed as government functionaries have been subject of criticism more prominently those of Viriginia Torres over Stradcom, Rico Puno over Jueteng, Proceso Alcala over Carp and Rene Almendras over the handling of the Mindanao energy crisis. Also PNoy seem prone to the bulldozer tactics as in the Corona impeachment. Likely he sees ends justifying the means, a horrible proposition.
If PNoy succeeds in getting a majority in both houses, he becomes dictator. It would be the biggest irony in Philippine history. There would be no fiscalizer; no check, no balance, no righteous path.
Do you think that if UNA is able to dominate the senate and congress, there would be a fiscalizing element? I think not. They are the same dynasty oriented, pork barrel consuming, MOOE realigning, committee hungry, neurotic lot as their fathers.
It is wise therefore, to look for alternative candidates that may help PNoy really implement this much vaunted 'Daang Matuwid'. But then if you look at the roll of candidates, there's slim pickings made more obvious with three candidates included in both UNA and Team PNoy slate.
Still there are the few promising prospects, so look up: John Carlos Delos Reyes, Kapatiran with his hands-on campaign against social ills; Greco Belgica, Democratic Party of the Philippines with his progressive tax concept and Edward Hagedorn, no none sense former Palawan mayor.
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